BOSTON, March 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --The Virtual High School (VHS Inc.) is once again setting the standards for quality online education. As members of the Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (VLLA), and in partnership with the international nonprofit Quality Matters, VHS executives have been contributing to the National Standards for Quality (NSQ) in three areas: Online Courses, Online Teaching, and Online Programs. After a yearlong process, the updated National Standards for Quality Online Teaching and for Online Programs are now available for download as of March 5 at the National Standards for Quality Online Learning website.

Teams of educators and online learning stakeholders worked on each group of standards. The following VHS executives participated in the standards revisions:

The National Standards for Quality are a set of openly licensed standards designed to help evaluate and improve online courses, online teaching and online programs. Each standard is accompanied by a set of indicators. The revision teams enhanced the indicators, accompanying explanations, and examples to increase the level of guidance provided by the standards. Additionally, they were mindful to balance the need for a set of benchmarks with the need for flexibility to accommodate the wide range of program types and available resources that educators adopt.

"Advances in technology, digital content, and instructional practices have brought about a greater variety of program types, and the application of standards must be applied to different models, from blended learning to competency-based strategies to full-time virtual schools and everything in between," said Carol Ribeiro, President & CEO of VHS. "These newly-revised National Standards will serve as a useful guideline for educators looking to better understand what constitutes quality virtual teaching, courses, and programs."

This is not the first time that VHS has set standards for online learning. VHS founding CEO Liz Pape co-chaired the iNACOL Quality Standards for Online Programs Committee, co-authored iNACOL's 2009 National Standards for Quality Online Programs guidelines, and contributed to the 2011 National Standards for Quality Online Teaching,Version 2 and National Standards for Quality Online Courses, Version 2. In addition, the National Education Association (NEA) acknowledges VHS contributions to quality online instruction for secondary students, along with those of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and others, on the cover of the NEA Guide to Teaching Online Courses. "These revisions build on the work VHS did with International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) to develop the original quality standards. We're pleased to contribute to the greater K-12 community to help ensure today's students have quality virtual learning options," said Ribeiro. The revised National Standards for Quality Online Courses will be released in September. For more information, visit www.vhslearning.org or call (978) 897-1900.